Watkins Glen: Post-Race Notes
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET - FINISHED 21ST
YOU HAD DRIVEN IT BACK TO WITHIN A TOP 10 FINISH AND YOU WENT AROUND. WHAT HAPPENED?
"Oil all over the race track, it's pretty ridiculous they don't want to end a race under caution and put that many cars in jeopardy. I had no idea that there was oil out there. I knew there was all kinds of havoc happening all around, but it was a great effort by our Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet. I'm pretty bummed out right now because we didn't have the day that I thought we were going to have. I thought our car was a lot better than that. We started pretty good, but I knew something wasn't right. Then we tried to make an adjustment it didn't go the right way, went backwards. Yet Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the guys made some adjustments there on that last stop and we weren't good on the restart, but man did it come on. We were just passing cars left and right. I was having a blast. To work that hard all day long, come all the way from way back all the way up into the top 10 and have it taken away because they don't want to throw a caution it's pretty disappointing. I jumped out there to the outside of (Matt) Kenseth and I think he could see the oil because he just gave it to me. I went out there and there was just no grip just completely came around.
"I went to the outside and hit it (oil on the track) and just spun right out. I'm just really disappointed because we fought hard today to come back to get what was going to be a pretty nice finish. The thing is, I'm just disappointed at how hard we had to fight for the position. The points are going to be what the points are going to be. We can't control what other people do. We can only control what we do. And today, we took back control when we got off, and we were coming. It's just unfortunate that that gets taken away from you because NASCAR doesn't want to end the race under yellow (caution). I understand. You want to keep it entertaining and give the winner a shot at it but there are a lot of other things going on our there too. I think they completely disregarded that and hey, it's over now. We'll move on."
YOUR FACE JUST SAYS IT ALL
"It was a rough day, you know? We started off pretty good and from that point on; it didn't go the way that I had hoped. I thought we were going to be a lot better than that. Whatever the guys did there on that last pit stop, it really brought the car back to life. It didn't take off very good on the restarts, but man, it was really strong. I mean we passed a lot of cars there at the end of that race. And it's all for nothing. It just stinks."
DO YOU TAKE SOLACE THAT KYLE BUSCH DIDN'T GET THE WIN BECAUSE THAT OBVIOUSLY WOULD HAVE IMPACTED YOUR CHASE HOPES?
"Yeah, that would have impacted it in a big way. Again, we can't control what other people do. We can only control what we do. And we're not wishing bad luck on anybody. We're trying to go out there and race as hard as we can and get the best finishes that we can get."
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